Astronomy Archives

December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Matt Williams

Luca Parmitano Takes the Wheel and Test Drives a Rover From Space.

Back in November, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano made history by taking command of a rover from the International Space Station (ISS). As part of the Analog-1 experiments, this feat was made possible thanks to a “space internet” command infrastructure and a force-feedback control setup. This allowed Parmitano to remotely operate a rover 10,000 km (6,200 mi) away while orbiting Earth at a speed of 8 km/s (28,800 km/h; 17,900 mph).

December 2, 2019January 11, 2022 by Tammy Plotner

Messier 94 – the Cat’s Eye Galaxy

This image shows the galaxy Messier 94, which lies in the small northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs, about 16 million light-years away. Within the bright ring around Messier 94 new stars are forming at a high rate and many young, bright stars are present within it – thanks to this, this feature is called a starburst ring. The cause of this peculiarly shaped star-forming region is likely a pressure wave going outwards from the galactic centre, compressing the gas and dust in the outer region. The compression of material means the gas starts to collapse into denser clouds. Inside these dense clouds, gravity pulls the gas and dust together until temperature and pressure are high enough for stars to be born.

Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the “Cat’s Eye” spiral galaxy known as Messier 94!

During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noticed the presence of several “nebulous objects” while surveying the night sky. Originally mistaking these objects for comets, he began to catalog them so that others would not make the same mistake. Today, the resulting list (known as the Messier Catalog) includes over 100 objects and is one of the most influential catalogs of Deep Space Objects.

One of these objects is the Cat’s Eye Galaxy (aka. the Croc’s Eye Galaxy and Messier 94), a spiral galaxy located about 15 million light-years from Earth in close proximity to the Canes Venatici constellation (and just north-east of Ursa Major). Measuring 50,000 light-years in diameter, this galaxy can be spotted with binoculars on a clear night – but only as a small patch of light. However, even with small telescopes, this object is discernible as a galaxy.

November 29, 2019December 3, 2019 by Matt Williams

Interstellar Comet Borisov is About to Make its Closest Approach to Earth

Left: A new image of the interstellar comet 2l/Borisov. Right: A composite image of the comet with a photo of the Earth to show scale. (Pieter van Dokkum, Cheng-Han Hsieh, Shany Danieli, Gregory Laughlin)

On August 30th, 2019, astronomers with NASA, the ESA, and the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) announced the detection of the interstellar comet C/2019 Q4 (2I/Borisov). News of the object was met with a great deal of excitement since it was only the second interstellar object to be detected by astronomers – the first being the mysterious object known as ‘Oumuamua (which astronomers are still unsure about)!

After a lot of waiting and several follow-up observations, 2I/Borisov is about to make its closest approach to Earth. To mark the occasion, a team of astronomers and physicists from Yale University captured a close-up image of the comet that is the clearest yet! This image shows the comet forming a tail as it gets closer to the Sun and even allowed astronomers to measure how long it has grown.

November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Are About to Detect the Light from the Very First Stars in the Universe

The Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope in remote Western Australia. Brown University.

A team of scientists working with the Murchison Widefield Array (WMA) radio telescope are trying to find the signal from the Universe’s first stars. Those first stars formed after the Universe’s Dark Ages. To find their first light, the researchers are looking for the signal from neutral hydrogen, the gas that dominated the Universe after the Dark Ages.

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 by Fraser Cain

Building Space Telescopes… In Space

Concept of an in-space assembled telescope. Credit: NASA

When it comes to telescopes, bigger is better. That’s true down here on Earth, and it’s especially true out in space. As astronomers and engineers design the next generation of giant space telescopes, they’re running up against the limits of current launch providers. There are only so many ways you can fold a huge telescope to get it to fit inside a 5-meter launch fairing.

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 by Matt Williams

There Could be Planets Orbiting Around Supermassive Black Holes

Artist's impression of planets orbiting a supermassive black hole. Credit: Kagoshima University

Perhaps the greatest discovery to come from the “Golden Age of General Relativity” (ca. 1960 to 1975) was the realization that a supermassive black hole (SMBH) exists at the center of our galaxy. In time, scientists came to realize that similarly massive black holes were responsible for the extreme amounts of energy emanating from the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) of distant quasars.

Given their sheer size, mass, and energetic nature, scientists have known for some time that some pretty awesome things take place beyond the event horizon of an SMBH. But according to a recent study by a team of Japanese researchers, it is possible that SMBHs can actually form a system of planets! In fact, the research team concluded that SMBHs can form planetary systems that would put our Solar System to shame!

November 25, 2019November 25, 2019 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Find a Galaxy Containing Three Supermassive Black Holes at the Center

Not all galaxies are neatly shaped, as this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 6240 clearly demonstrates. NGC 6240 is the result of three galaxies merging. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

NGC 6240 is a puzzle to astronomers. For a long time, astronomers thought the galaxy is a result of a merger between two galaxies, and that merger is evident in the galaxy’s form: It has an unsettled appearance, with two nuclei and extensions and loops.

November 22, 2019November 26, 2019 by Matt Williams

Of the Two Stars in Alpha Centauri, One is Probably More Habitable than the Other

Artist's impression of a hypothetical planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B, a member of the triple star system that is the closest to Earth. Credit: ESO

In the past, the number of known exoplanets has exploded, with 4093 confirmed detections so far (and another 4,727 candidates awaiting confirmation). With the discovery of so many planets that are dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of light years away, a great deal of attention has understandably been directed to our nearest stellar neighbors. Could planets be right next door, with the possibility of life being there as well?

While a potentially-habitable planet was recently discovered around Proxima Centauri (Proxima b), Alpha Centauri remains something of a question mark. But thanks to a recent study from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT), we might be getting closer to determining if this neighboring system supports life. In a twist, the study revealed that one of the stars in the binary system is more likely to be habitable than the other.

November 22, 2019November 22, 2019 by Matt Williams

Hubble Observes the Most Powerful Gamma Ray Burst Ever Detected

New observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have investigated the nature of the powerful gamma-ray burst GRB 190114C by studying its environment. Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the Universe. They emit most of their energy in gamma rays, light which is much more energetic than the visible light we can see with our eyes. Hubble’s observations suggest that this particular burst displayed such powerful emission because the collapsing star was sitting in a very dense environment, right in the middle of a bright galaxy 5 billion light years away.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are one of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, and also one of the least researched. These explosions of energy occur when a massive star goes supernova and emits twin beams of gamma rays that can be seen billions of light-years away. Because they are closely tied with the formation of black holes, scientists have been eager to study this rare occurrence in greater detail.

Unfortunately, few opportunities for this have occurred since GRBs are very short-lived (lasting for just seconds) and most have happened in distant galaxies. But thanks to the efforts using a suite of telescopes, astronomers were able to spot a GRB (designated GRB 190114C) back in January of 2019. Some of the radiation from this GRB was the highest energy ever observed, making this a milestone in the history of astronomy.

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Finally Find the Neutron Star Leftover from Supernova 1987A

A composite image of SN 1987A from Hubble, Chandra, and ALMA. Image Credit: By ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/A. Angelich. Visible light image: the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. X-Ray image: The NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory - http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1401a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30512379

Astronomers at Cardiff University have done something nobody else has been able to do. A team, led by Dr. Phil Cigan from Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy, has found the neutron star remnant from the famous supernova SN 1987A. Their evidence ends a 30 year search for the object.